1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? The stasis occurs between the beginning of the play and the casting of Marcus “Gee” as the lead actor in David Henry Hwang’s new show. David Henry Hwang is a critically acclaimed playwright who won the Tony award for best Play for his show, M. Butterfly. He writes a letter on behalf of the Asian-American community to Actor’s Equity criticizing the director of Miss Saigon for casting Jonathon Price in an Asian role.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken? The intrusion occurs when DHH discovers that Marcus is not an Asian-American actor and decides to cast him as the lead in his play regardless of this. He then has to decide what to do with this information considering he looks like a hypocrite after critiquing the casting decisions in Miss Saigon. He also cannot fire Marcus based purely on his race/ethnicity because this would be outright discrimination.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this? The unique factor is that DHH casts Marcus as the lead in his new show. DHH then has to deal with the personal and society repercussions of casting an actor who is not Asian in an Asian role.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) Will DHH fire Marcus? Will the media find out about Marcus’ identity? Is color bind casting truly possible? Is it correct?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
Hwang encounters both internal conflict as well as himself against society. After casting Marcus and knowing the truth about his identity, Hwang sees the difficulty between being culturally competent/sensitive and color blind casting. He also begins to question his own identity as an Asian American and whether one can belong to both groups. This especially occurs during the investigation of his father. DHH realizes that it is not enough to be a “model minority.” Hwang also experiences an external conflict with society throughout the course of the play. He is frustrated by the positive reactions of the Asian American community after Marcus becomes a spokesman for them. He also experiences the same struggle the director of Miss Saigon faced after casting Jonathan Price.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face.
One of the most theatrical moments is when Marcus tells Jane that he is not Asian. The death of DHH’s father. David’s confrontation with Leah. David’s confrontation with Marcus on the discussion panel. Finally, the most theatrical moment occurs when DHH admits that Marcus was not a real person.
The stasis occurs between the beginning of the play and the casting of Marcus “Gee” as the lead actor in David Henry Hwang’s new show. David Henry Hwang is a critically acclaimed playwright who won the Tony award for best Play for his show, M. Butterfly. He writes a letter on behalf of the Asian-American community to Actor’s Equity criticizing the director of Miss Saigon for casting Jonathon Price in an Asian role.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Yellow Face and how is it broken?
The intrusion occurs when DHH discovers that Marcus is not an Asian-American actor and decides to cast him as the lead in his play regardless of this. He then has to decide what to do with this information considering he looks like a hypocrite after critiquing the casting decisions in Miss Saigon. He also cannot fire Marcus based purely on his race/ethnicity because this would be outright discrimination.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: what is the heart of the play? How does the title figure in this?
The unique factor is that DHH casts Marcus as the lead in his new show. DHH then has to deal with the personal and society repercussions of casting an actor who is not Asian in an Asian role.
4. State the dramatic question that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will DHH fire Marcus?
Will the media find out about Marcus’ identity?
Is color bind casting truly possible? Is it correct?
5. Use Hwang’s “character” to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing each of the lawyers.
Hwang encounters both internal conflict as well as himself against society. After casting Marcus and knowing the truth about his identity, Hwang sees the difficulty between being culturally competent/sensitive and color blind casting. He also begins to question his own identity as an Asian American and whether one can belong to both groups. This especially occurs during the investigation of his father. DHH realizes that it is not enough to be a “model minority.”
Hwang also experiences an external conflict with society throughout the course of the play. He is frustrated by the positive reactions of the Asian American community after Marcus becomes a spokesman for them. He also experiences the same struggle the director of Miss Saigon faced after casting Jonathan Price.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Yellow Face.
One of the most theatrical moments is when Marcus tells Jane that he is not Asian. The death of DHH’s father. David’s confrontation with Leah. David’s confrontation with Marcus on the discussion panel. Finally, the most theatrical moment occurs when DHH admits that Marcus was not a real person.